Our Guide to Rewilding

Pristine forests, howling wolves, unknown wilderness, we all wish there were still places we called wild.

Untamed nature has become a rare occurrence in the most populated areas of our planet. Forests, grasslands and wetlands have for the most part given way to neatly defined pastures and croplands. Our wild ecosystems are almost gone. Protecting and conserving them them is crucial but we have come to a stage where that is not enough.

A new form of nature conservation - Rewilding

Several definitions of rewilding exist, but they have in common to advocate for a hands-off approach to conservation, where nature can proceed in a self-managed way, while animals, especially predators, regulate ecosystems.

It is based on reintroducing keystone species and leaving nature, to a certain extent, self-managed . It could embody an alternative or a complementary method to classic conservation practices since it creates an autonomous wilderness that could require very little management while bringing back wilderness in underused, degraded or abandoned areas.

An effective land management practice

Rewilding could also be included in a European and global sustainable development agenda as a holistic solution to solve environmental issues as biodiversity extinctions, impoverishment of soils because of intensive agriculture, and of course as a tool for climate change mitigation through carbon capture.

Trophic Cascades

The researchers credited for developing the concept of Rewilding, Soulé & Noss, define Rewilding as restoration projects that have the following characteristics “large, strictly protected, core reserves (the wild), connectivity, keystone species”. Keystone species can either be carnivores or engineer species that modify the landscapes, such as large herbivores whose grazing activities profoundly shape the ecosystems.

Those keystone species are reintroduced in rewilding projects to influence ecosystem functions and trigger trophic cascades that modify the relations between the preexisting species, including predation and grazing behavior. The most famous example of rewilding is the often-cited example of Yellowstone where some wolves were reintroduced in the 1990’s and have caused, years later, to change the course of rivers through trophic cascades.

Mossy Earth & Rewilding

Bringing wilderness back for the environment, its people and its wildlife

In all our projects we keep in mind that the ultimate goal whether in restoration, reforestation or rewilding is to bring back resilient ecosystems; richly biodiverse habitats for wildlife to thrive.

We take upon ourselves to give an initial push to nature by planting native species of trees that had previously existed in the area before the intensification of agriculture.

In addition to our tree planting efforts, proceeds from our rewilding offerings are invested directly in to the rewilding reserve.